LETTERS

Letters

July 09, 2008

Buying French wine

I enjoyed your article about Bordeaux wines ("Struggle in Bordeaux," July 2). But you didn't mention a factor that really hurts the French wine industry: The difficulty of exporting wine from France to the U.S. This is entirely in the hands of a few distributors (negociants), who add a hefty price tag to each bottle.

When we were in Bordeaux in 2002, I came across some just tremendous wines, but the winemakers would not ship them to me directly in the U.S. -- way too difficult, they said. If I lived in Tokyo, no problem. But the United States? Nope. They would have had to go through a negociant/distributor, adding 25 to 30 percent to the cost of each bottle. They were not willing to have their wines marked up so unreasonably. Instead, they sold all their wines to the French, European and Asian markets.

So while going to Bordeaux is a wonderful experience, it is frustrating as well. If Bordeaux winemakers could send their wine directly to individuals in the U.S., they could [have] a much better business.

-- Gary Millman, Evanston

Wine law's flaws

Your article ("New wine shipping laws go into effect June 1," May 28) correctly points out that the Granholm decision was the impetus for the law change in Illinois.

Unfortunately, the new law does not comply with Granholm. Granholm stated that the same privileges afforded in-state interests must mirror those of out-of-state companies. Alas, the new law does not. But such sleight-of-hand lawmaking is the result of having state politicians effectively on the payroll of special interests.

-- Larry Dutra, Westlake Village, Calif.

Editor's note: Dutra is co-owner of Vinesse, an online wine club.

Your mention of the new Illinois shipping law (May 28) glossed over the problem with it.

As you mention in your first paragraph, it bans shipments from out-of-state retailers. I have purchased wines via the Internet and have belonged to several out-of-state wine clubs. I will be able to do neither as of June 1.

Arguments about preventing shipments to minors are false, since in-state retailers and all wineries still have the ability to ship. All this new law will do is prevent consumers from having access to a variety of wines not available in Illinois, while protecting in-state retailers from competition.